Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Construction & Congressmen

Well, the steel installation for the wind deflector began in earnest yesterday. I had a bunch of guys in my lab space for the job, and it went pretty well until somebody stepped on some of the cables leading into one of my projects' receivers. That was a bit more stress that I didn't need, but I think the component and connectors are OK. This morning they'll be doing a lot of welding, so the lab will potentially be pretty full of smoke for quite a while.

All this while we have 17 or so Congressmen coming for a visit of the station today.

Last night I managed to get some more time in the music room, and got a lot of practice in on "Slow Ride", "Fortunate Son", and "Goodbye Blue Sky". I don't know if I'll have anything good enough for an open mic night before the end of the season, but I definitely want to play in a band sometime this winter. It was a really relaxing way to unwind after the hectic afternoon.

I was very pleased and excited to see that William Gibson, one of my favorite authors, actually saw and acknowledged the pictures I took at the Pole with my copy of his latest book "Spook Country":

It's cool that being at Pole can be used somewhat as a bully pulpit to thank someone whose work you've enjoyed over the years, but to whom you have had no effective means of getting through the message!

3 comments:

Ethan, We spent some time looking through your blog entries today. We are impressed by the work that you do. Sometimes, it almost sounds like sci-fi. Since we are kids, we would really like to see a picture of penguins. If it is possible, could you post one soon?

Your friends in fifth grade, Marion Elementary School, U.S.A.

Mrs. Waddell's Writing Class

P.S. Do you think you could get a hold of J.K. Rowling for us (in any possible free time). She is one of our favorite authors, and you seem to have a little more pull than us. We would love a letter from her (or you)--address it to Mrs. Waddell, 1400 East Lawrence, Marion, Kansas 66861:).

I'm glad to see you have enjoyed what I've had to share about my experiences at SP.

Unfortunately, we don't have any penguins (or anything alive but human beings) here on the Antarctic Plateau. I saw some when I was working at McMurdo Station on the coast last summer, so I can post one of those pictures if you'd like. Or, we can wait and see if there are any in McMurdo later this month when I get some time off for R&R before the South Pole closes for the winter.

I wouldn't say I have a lot of "pull", but probably just got lucky that Mr. Gibson saw my pictures. My current location is one that does get people's attention. I've read Rowling's books, and enjoyed them, so I will see if I can locate an address at which to write her. Have you tried writing her yourself yet? Like most things in life, if you don't ever actually make an attempt to reach some goal, you'll probably never achieve it. That's just something I've figured out in my life so far.